Time for a late summer trip to visit family and enjoy the beautiful northwest. But first there are many miles to travel through barren desert landscapes of Nevada, Idaho and Washington before we reach our destination. Guess we could all say that about our own daily life. Routines strung between significant events. Life is the journey to our goal-whatever we have decided that it is in our life or if we have decided. I believe my goal in this life is and always has been to have an "eternal family" bound together by love and shared experiences. That becomes harder and takes more effort to create with divorces in the family, and when we don't share the same household with our offspring, thus comes the necessity of traveling either in real space and time or connecting in virtual reality through the Internet. (Photo of my Grandma Johnson center in top photo with her sisters.)
Emails are fun but...nothing is the same as looking into a family member's face and hugging them while expressing your love and interest in their lives. Too bad we don't live closer but opportunities beckon our young ones and soon they are off on their own adventures in new locations. Holidays, special occasions-marriage, deaths, etc and reunions can give us the excuse to come together as an extended family IF that's a value we have in our life. May we all realize that even with our own and other family members' imperfections, FAMILY is what it's all about. (Photo of my dad as a baby, held by his father Joseph Harold Vernon, and L-his grandmother Sarah Elizabeth Malin Vernon and R-his great grandmother Alice Melissa Smith Malin.)